Leading With Intention: How School Leaders Can Unlock Deeper Collaboration and Drive Results

About Michael NelsonPeter M. DeWitt

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective. He was a K-5 teacher for 11 years and a principal for 8 years. For the last 10 years he has been facilitating professional learning nationally and internationally based on the content of many of his best-selling educational books.    DeWitts professional learning relationships are a monthly hybrid approach that includes both coaching and the facilitating workshops on instructional leadership and collective efficacy.  Additionally in the Summer of 2021 DeWitt created a year long on-demand asynchronous coaching course through Thinkific where he has created a community of learners that include k-12 educators in leadership positions.    DeWitts work has been adopted at the state level university level and he works with numerous school districts school boards regional networks ministries of education around North America Australia Europe Asia the Middle East and the U.K.   Peter writes the Finding Common Ground column for Education Week which has been in circulation since 2011. In 2020 DeWitt co-created Education Weeks A Seat At the Table where he moderates conversations with experts around the topics of race gender sexual orientation research trauma and many other educational topics.    Additionally DeWitt is the Series Editor for the Connected Educator Series (Corwin Press) and the Impact Series (Corwin Press) that include books by Viviane Robinson Andy Hargreaves Pasi Sahlberg Yong Zhao and Michael Fullan.   He is the 2013 School Administrators Association of New York States (SAANYS) Outstanding Educator of the Year and the 2015 Education Blogger of the Year (Academy of Education Arts & Sciences) and sits on numerous advisory boards.  Peter is the author co-author or contributor of numerous books. Click on title to purchase. They include: Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin Press. 2012). Flipping Leadership Doesnt Mean Reinventing the Wheel (Corwin Press. 2014) Collaborative Leadership: 6 Influences That Matter Most (Corwin Press/Learning Forward). School Climate: Leading With Collective Teacher Efficacy (Corwin Press/ Ontario Principals Council. 2017). Coach It Further: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership (Corwin Press. 2018).  Instructional Leadership: Creating Practice Out Of Theory (Corwin Press. 2020). Collective Leader Efficacy: Strengthening the Impact of Instructional Leadership Teams (Corwin Press. Learning Forward. 2021). De-implementation: Creating the Space to Focus on What Works (Corwin Press. 2022).  Leading with Intention - Developing self-awareness to fostering an unreasonable human interconnectedness to impact the school community (co-authored with Michael Nelson. Corwin Press. 2024). Peters articles have appeared in educational research journals at the state national and international level. His books have been translated into numerous languages.  Some of the organizations Peter has worked with are the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) Learning Forward National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) University of Oklahoma Cognition Education (New Zealand) Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) Victoria Department of Education (Australia) University of Rotterdam (Netherlands) Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) the National Education Association (NEA) New Brunswick Teachers Association (Canada) the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Education Scotland (Scotland) Glasgow City Council (Scotland) Kuwait Technical College (Kuwait) the National Association of School Psychologists ASCD lAssociation des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes (ADFO) the Catholic Principals Council of Ontario (CPCO) and the Ontario Principals Council (OPC) National School Climate Center GLSEN PBS NPR BAM Radio Network ABC and NBCs Education Nation. Learn more about bringing Peter DeWitt to your school or district at petermdewitt.com There is no more noble profession than that of an educator was what Michael Nelsons mom said almost every day while he was growing up. For almost 40 years Michael has been an educator. His mom would be pleased.     Even though Michael still considers teacher as his primary title he has served in roles of principal district instructional leader superintendent and currently as assistant executive director developing programs and initiatives for superintendents and district leaders in the state of Washington.   One foundational leadership value in which Michael leads is the development of a kind compassionate and empathetic culture rooted in belonging and equity. He describes his leadership work as building human connectedness recognizing you must always model what you lead as you build teams of individuals supporting students in their learning. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe awarded him with their official blanket for building a collaborative partnership between the Tribe and school district the highest honor of the Tribe and the first non-Tribal member to receive this blanket. Michael has received many state and national awards during his time as a principal and superintendent. As a principal he was acknowledged by Pacific Lutheran University as its Outstanding Recent Alumni in 1997. At the same  time the school he was leading as principal received the National Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education.    As a superintendent he was named Washington states 2019 Superintendent of the Year. During his tenure as superintendent Michael was elected President of the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) by his peers.   While WASA President he was one of two superintendents in the nation selected to participate in the Embark Program facilitated by the United States Navy. He spent time on the USS Ronald Reagan learning from all levels of the men and women serving on this aircraft carrier. He also has received the Washington State Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development Educating the Whole Child Award.